Choose a partner from your table and swap papers. You need 3 different colored highlighters for this activity. Yellow or orange, pink, and blue or green.
In all of the body paragraphs:
Highlight the Point sentenceYellow or orange.
Highlight the Evidence sentences pink.
Highlight the Explanation sentences blue or green.
Next, Read through the paper and determine if the highlighted sentences have been correctly identified.
With a pen, put a box around any words that make you go "WOW!" (Words that stand out, that sound intelligent, that appeal to your senses, etc)
With a pen, put a triangle around any trash words or words that are vague. (thing, stuff, a lot, etc.)
Make notes of anything that is difficult to understand.
Also check for conventionsuch as:
sentence structure
paragraphing (make sure the paragraphs are indented. Also, make sure there ARE paragraphs, and the whole essay isn't just all stuck together in one big lump.)
capitalization
punctuation (at the ends of sentences, also around quotations)
contractions (It's, wasn't, don't, etc)- All words need to be separated in order to be formal. Contractions give an informal tone.
Next, hand the paper back and discuss with partner 2 likes and 2 dislikes you found in his/her paper.
Re-write:
Grab a thesaurus or dictionary and work on replacing some of those trash words with some words that will make your audience say, "Wow, what a great word!"
Make sure you have at least 1 Point sentence, 2 Evidence sentences, and 4 Explanation sentences in each body paragraph. If you do not, start writing them in!
Look to make sure your introduction has an attention getter, it identifies the subject, and has a thesis. If not, get to writing them in!
Check your conclusion. Make sure it is at least 3-5 sentences long. make sure it wraps up your essay and doesn't add any new information that you did not discuss previously in the essay. If it does, you may want to move this info into your body somewhere. Remember: a conclusion should just be an overall reminder and evaluation of your main points in your argument.
Think/Discuss:
Choose a partner from your table and swap papers. You need 3 different colored highlighters for this activity. Yellow or orange, pink, and blue or green.In all of the body paragraphs:
Next, Read through the paper and determine if the highlighted sentences have been correctly identified.
- With a pen, put a box around any words that make you go "WOW!" (Words that stand out, that sound intelligent, that appeal to your senses, etc)
- With a pen, put a triangle around any trash words or words that are vague. (thing, stuff, a lot, etc.)
- Make notes of anything that is difficult to understand.
Also check for conventionsuch as:Next, hand the paper back and discuss with partner 2 likes and 2 dislikes you found in his/her paper.
Re-write: